Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-25
coming into the Panhandle. While it
has been known for years past IS mag
niicent country, il has not been sccessi-

has been known for years past IS mag
njficent country, il has not been sccessi-
Bile by railroad until the present
year, when attention is just being
directed TO it. There has been steady
stream OF pruspectOrs for the past four
months, who have been looking the coun-
try over with view to settlement, and q
fair number Of settlers have taken up
school lands, on which they are mskiDgim-
provemep-s. These settlers are from
Kansas, Nebraska, Eastern Illinois, East
era Iowa, Central Missouri, Southern
Minnesota, kentucky and Tennessee, with
numbers from the thiCkly settled parts OF
Texas, chC, selling out their lands st
hlgh prices. removed 70 the Panhandle
70 obtain cheap lands. They are all OF
the best farming class and come with
money, prepared to stay, aud are gener-
ally the nucleus Of small colonies which
will fallow them this fall from their re
spective localities.
The soil varies from e rich, black, wsxy
in Tarrant county to @ sandy loan
through Wise, Clay and Montague Coun-
ties, rich red soil through the Wichita
and Wilbarger counties, with brown
loan ard gypsum sub-son to the foot of
the plans, when the rich soil found in
Kansas and Nebraska is encountered.
Dropping into the Canadian bottoms
there is a black sandy loam-a rich al
luvial deposiJ-then rising to the
plains the same rich soil 1 have
] spoken of is again encountered
/ The land generally produces from fifty
/ 70 sixty bushels of corn per acre, twenty
TO twenty five bushels OF wheat, fifty five
! TO seventy bushels of oats, from two to
! three tons OF millet and Johnson grass
per acre, also large crops of root vege-
/ tables, such as mangle wortZel, field car
rot, Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes and
al manner of garden vegetables. The
/ different varieties of fruit yield album
dainty. Peach orchards three years old
are bearing fine fruit and crops are in
/ fine condition"
Chow about the climate?'
"The average for fourteen years has
been ABOUT 81 Fahrenheit. The pains be-
tween the Canadian and Red rivers are
300 feet above sea level, the land grad,
ually declining to G25 feet at Fort Worth
ana ascending on me north to Denver
about 7000 feet. The cir is cool il sum
mer and the winters are mild.
''There mas been no drouth north OF
Pease river. The longest time we have
had without rain in, the PAnhandlelWas from
October until the following March, with
two slight falls OF snow intervening il
January and February. The government
records at Fort Elliott in Wheeler COun-
~, show that the rainfall in the Psnhan
die equals that of Southern Nebraska
Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico and In
dian Territory, which Is fair average
rainfall of the country. Up 10 this
time the Panhandle mas been occupied eX
clusively by stock men, the only IanC
broken up being thst made into
gardens where they raised vegetables fol
their own use, some few acres being de-
voted TO the cultivation Of mlllet, sor
ghum and corn for fodder on which &c
winter their beGves. This left 8 nard
unbroken surface, from which the rair
quickly ran OF into The streams and the
moisture was lost TO the country; but
these conditions Will be charged, IS every
piece of land broken up will form nat
ura! tank into which the rain will pcue
tTate 10 the subsoil ard the moisture viii
! be retained in the grOUnd.n
The reporter captured the interview as
a cOutraband article and withdrew,